W
hen Laurie Umanoff Goldstein and Steven Goldstein decided to leave Philadelphia for upstate New York, they left behind a 40-year home and a thriving community built by Mrs. Goldstein as an artist and interior designer. Their two children had long since moved out, and Mr. Goldstein had retired from his psychotherapy practice. The move was also a homecoming of sorts – the couple met in Manhattan in 1972, when he hired her as an art teacher at United Cerebral Palsy of New York City.

    After moving to Philadelphia for Mr. Goldstein's job with a nonprofit focused on youth crime prevention, they settled into their current life. Now, with children living in the lower Hudson Valley and Mr. Goldstein commuting to Manhattan two days a week, they decided to move north. "It was the best possible thing we could do because we wanted to be closer to our children," he said.

    The area held personal significance for Mr. Goldstein, who spent summers there as a boy and later ran his mother's antiques shop seasonally with Mrs. Goldstein. As they aged, they began to think about their next chapter. "You're living your life and doing what you want to do, and raising kids, and all of a sudden you're like, 'Wow, I'm older,'" Mrs. Goldstein said.

    With a $500,000 cash budget, the couple started looking for a house in 2021, focusing on riverfront towns in Dutchess County like Hyde Park and Rhinebeck. They wanted extra rooms for guests, an art studio, and a first-floor primary suite. "I'm not downsizing," Mrs. Goldstein said. "I'm right-sizing."